Literature Review
Literature Review
Introduction
A large percentage of relationships are prone to violence. The evidence of strife in relationships denotes one party desire to maintain control over the other. The other party suffers intimidation and threats that is not subject to control. Due to the prevalence of the case in America, most of the cases are referred to family court mediation programs as an alternative to the litigation process.
Robinson (2009) asserts that the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) provides support to the victim of sexual violence. The ISVA create multi-agency awareness and dedicates to improve services for the sexual violence victims. This evaluation assesses the implementation of the ISVA services in different settings. The ISVA has bore fruits in stipulating timely information to the victims. The ISVA has also increased the engagement of the victims with the courts with fewer cases of withdrawals. According to the national monitoring data, the differences in the local content have impact on the ISVA. The government has set up plans to implement the ISVA on a national level. I think ISVA is an efficient independent agency and is capable to address victims’ issues with no form of bias. This is because it aims to volunteer to handle the duties of the police and the health sector. In this case, setting the ISVA as a voluntary organization challenges the security and the healthcare to step up. The study reveals that people perceive the ISVA as beneficial given its statutory settings that seek to have a positive impact in the society.
Mediating when Domestic Violence is a Factor
Court cases about divorce and custody call for out of case settlement such as mediation. Domestic violence cases in America due to their escalation demand mediation as an alternative to courts. Pearson (1997) provides that many families are prone to abuse and these cases appear at the mediation programs. Domestic violence entails a pattern of interaction that have the capacity to affect the dynamics of couples in relationships. This can occur when the couples are in a position to communicate to resolve the situation. In cases of high emotion, there is a tendency of blame game that prevents harmonious resolution. The instance of anger and bitterness the couples cannot negotiate peacefully.The strategy to terminate a relationship is not the viable option to the woman. This is due to the children needs as well as the economic and the social factors. Pearson (1997) cites that the family mediators have to look at the causal for the violence without any form of denial. The batterer uses violence to control the spouse. This makes the affected party fear to confront the batterer in mediation situations. Pearson (1997) asserts that battered people in marriages cover the situation unless confronted in a direct way.
The Child-Custody Mediation
In the child custody disputes Werner (1984) cites that mediators have to consider the psychological assessment of the parent before making custody decisions. The couples that subscribe to mediation should retain an independent lawyer. The mediator has to make assessment on the harm perpetrated on the children such as abduction.
The children that grow in single parent families undergo violence and parental abuse. Domestic violence can cause a lot of stress to the children. This occurs when their desires lack somebody to meet them. The immigrants in America deal with domestic violence face many challenges due to language and cultural barrier. The immigrant victims must seek help from the organization such as The National Immigration Project. This kind of organization has advocates to provide assistance for the victims and the children lives. United States spouses and children can contact the Violence against Women Act for assistance (VAWA).This organization caters for the permanent residents in the country to obtain self-petition. VAWA can also allow the battered immigrants to seek petition from the batterer by filing for relief without the knowledge of the abuser. I support mediation since it is prone to positive results as enhancing family relationships and shared parenting.
Conclusion
In the above literature review, mediation is deplorable to address power imbalances and the rights of the battered spouse. The above reviews cite the importance of meditation to solve issues of violence that will provide a good strategy for communication and reduce the violence incidence in families. Mediation remains one of the many tools for community building to empower the victims instead of the tedious court process that makes the people involved spectators.
References
Pearson, J. (1997). Policies and practices in court-based divorce mediation programs. Mediation Quarterly. Mediating when domestic violence is a facto, 14(4), pp 319-333.
Robinson, A. (2009, November 24). Independent Sexual Violence Advisors: A process evaluation.. Evaluation of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs). Retrieved December 27, 2013, from http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/resources/isvareport.pdf
Werner, B. (1984). Women and Language. Mediator and client communicative behaviors in child- custody mediation., 17(2), 21(9).
